


The Red Dragon

by cheesebeanmilk



Series: Two Worlds - Dragon AU [2]
Category: Sideshow - Fandom
Genre: Blood, Blood and Injury, Gen, Middle Ages, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Sideshow - Freeform, Two Worlds Dragon AU, backstory time, i spent so long on these backstories and they're barely as long as 1 chapter of the main story (((:, oh boy tamto's angry again, still have no idea how to format stuff on here but wOO HERE WE GO YALL
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:45:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21806068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheesebeanmilk/pseuds/cheesebeanmilk
Summary: Jared tends to travel across various lands alone but when he meets a particularly nervous but kind human, his naivety is his downfall.Based off of mine and m-f-w's Dragon AU on tumblr.Check it out: https://m-f-w.tumblr.com/https://cheesebeanmilk.tumblr.com/
Series: Two Worlds - Dragon AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1376824
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	The Red Dragon

Jared likes to pride himself in being fairly worldly. He’s been travelling since he was strong enough to fly and from then on, he never looked back. He’s travelled over oceans as far as the eye can see, and he’s traversed all kinds of lands of varying climates. It’s nice to have a change in scenery every once in a while. He’s met various kinds of creatures throughout his travels but he steered clear of humans, he’d never really taken a liking to them due to their…destructive tendencies. Jared stayed out of things for the most part, he just wants to travel and see the world around him. He’s never sought out a home as of yet but temporary places to stay were put in place each time he moved.

If it was a short distance to travel, or there were too many humans that could potentially see him then he would travel in his human form. It’s not the most mighty form but he’s tall at least. He rolls his shoulders and sighs, hiking his knapsack up. He doesn’t carry a lot but it’s enough to wear him out after a while, his shoulders are starting to ache he’s been going for so long. He glances around to make sure he’s alone before he places his bag in the grass and leans against a large collection of rocks. He exhales out of his nose pushes a claw through the grass, the blades tickling his scales.

He pushes a few stones aside, one particularly sparkly white stone catches his attention and smooths a thumb over it as he picks it up. He studies it for a moment, a soft smile making its way to his lips as he pushes the delicate stone into his bag. It’s probably not the best idea to carry rocks around in his bag considering its just unneeded weight added on but it’s a rarity that he would pick them up in the first place. And if it’s pretty enough, it’s added to his small collection. He sighs and allows his eyes to wander the area. He’s in the mountains, he always seems to end up in mountainous lands but it’s where the least amount of people live and that’s how he likes it. He loves when he comes across ones high enough to have snow, regardless of how badly he hates the cold – it’s still wonderful to look at. However, this mountain is grassy and the damp smell in the air gives him the impression he could come across a bog downhill sometime soon.

After his short rest, Jared gets back on his feet and treks further down the mountain. The terrain evens out after a long while and the forestry starts to thicken up. He takes in a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the pine trees and soft squishy noises of muck under his worn boots. His nerves spike when he hears a twig snap from nearby, shoulders tensing as he pushes through the brush and away from the source of the sound. His pace picks up as he moves but he’s so busy looking over his shoulder that he doesn’t see what’s in front of him. He runs into something hard, stumbling and barely catching himself with his hands as he hits the ground. It takes a moment to register the situation but when he sees the human pinned under him his eyes blow wide. Murky brown eyes stare up at him in shock and horror.

“P-Please don’t kill me.”

Jared pushes himself back clumsily, landing on his behind in the dirt. He’s stunned for a moment as the human sits upright, rubbing at his head and groaning. He still has his worrisome eyes trained on Jared.

“Aren’t you going to eat me or something?”

“I’m not particularly hungry.” Jared says casually, hopping to his feet gracefully. He doesn’t see the point in bothering this poor human, he’s practically shaking in his boots at the sight of Jared.

After a moment of hesitation, he offers a claw out to the human to help him up. The human blinks at him, his gaze flitting between his claw and his eyes. He places his soft, shaky hand in Jared’s and allows himself to be assisted.

“You’re a dragon.” He states, getting a shrug from Jared in reply “I’m talking to a dragon.” He laughs, pushing a hand through his hair. Jared steps back towards the main trail.

“Look, as much as I would love to stay and chat, I have somewhere else to be.” He turns on his heel but a tug on his coat pauses his movements. Perhaps the human has guts after all, he doubts anyone in their right mind would lay a finger on Jared. He’s a stalky, intimidating looking man but that doesn’t seem to be enough to stop this human.

“Don’t go that way. I’m with a hunting group and…if they see you they _will_ kill you.”

Jared raises a brow and pulls his coat out of the human’s grasp with a little more force than necessary. He’s likely stronger than them, he’s gargantuan in his dragon form but he’d much rather avoid any unnecessary conflict with humans. The human gives him a pleading look.

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because if you don’t – you’ll die.”

“Can’t argue with that, lead the way then, human.” Jared crosses his arms, he tries to hide the swell of nerves in his chest by squaring his shoulders off and raising his nose in the air. He could just let the human go but he doubts he would get very far before bumping into the rest of the hunters. Jared can assume if this human is decent enough to warn him of danger then he should be obliged to help him avoid it as well.

“I...P-Pardon?” He stutters out, flailing his arms and jumping back when Jared steps towards him.

“Lead the way. Unless you’re _not_ offering your help?” He raises a brow and the human scrambles to point a finger in the direction they need to go.

The trees start to decrease in numbers and without the cover of them, it makes Jared feel unsafe – unprotected. Maybe it isn't such a good idea to follow a stranger he doesn’t know through an area he’s not familiar with after all. He bites at the inside of his cheek. The human looks back at him cautiously as though Jared would attack him at any given moment. He offers a weak, fearful smile.

“I’m Connor by the way.”

“Good for you.” Jared focusses on his surroundings as they trek further down. It’s just open fields from here but he can see smoke in the distance. There must be a village nearby. Connor leads them away from it. Could Jared be too paranoid? The human seems genuine enough.

He sighs “Jared.”

Connor looks elated at the offering of his name and his shoulders slump as he relaxes a little bit.

“You realise that it’s dangerous as hell to travel on your own as a dragon? Hell, even _with_ other dragons it would still be dangerous.” He pauses “People hunt your kind for sport, do you realise that?”

“Of course I do.” Jared snaps. A thick silence rests between them, the sound of boots hitting the ground and arrows jostling being the only prominent sounds for a couple of minutes.

“Can I ask where you’re travelling?”

“Nowhere in particular.”

Connor takes his evasive answer as a sign to shut up altogether. He likely doesn't want to push his luck with a dragon. And Jared would prefer if he doesn't try to either.

Jared doesn’t know much about humans. He’s avoided them for most of his life. And now here he is, following one through the forest. Of course, it’s in Jared’s best interest right now. If he doesn’t follow him he’ll surely be caught – then again, who’s to say this human isn’t going to lead him into a trap? He squints his eyes at Connor’s back, eyeing him cautiously. He’s a slim creature, there’s not much too him. He looks like he’s struggling to even hold up the rucksack on his shoulders, never mind the bow and quiver of arrows slung over him.

He can still see smoke in the distance again. It gives Jared a slight kick of anxiety to be so out in the open this close to civilisation. There’s an opening up ahead, leading to a quaint farm. An old mill is attached to the side of the stone structure and a small section of the farm is boxed in by a rickety wooden fence that looks like a small gust of wind could topple it over. Jared raises his eyebrows at the crops sprouting out of the ground, pointing his gaze at Connor.

“This is probably a bad idea but – this is my home.”

“Do you live alone?” Jared asks, glancing around at the surrounding area and not finding a single other dwelling in sight. Do human’s like to live away from other humans? Jared was always under the impression they're a very social species but _this_? This house out on its own makes him second-guess that fact. Connor doesn’t seem to be bothered by the question at all and simply waves a hand for Jared to follow him.

“I’ll make some tea, I’m sure you’re probably cold.”

Jared hums in reply. He is. As a being that spouts fire it sounds ridiculous that he’d be cold but it doesn’t make it any less true. He’s used to a warm climate and being in a cold one is enough to throw him. A shiver runs down his spine as if summoned by the mention of cold temperatures.

Inside is just as cold but Connor is quick to light the stone fireplace, throwing in a few extra logs and holding his hands out to heat them.

“You can take your coat off if you like.” Connor says, draping his own jacket over one of his wooden chairs and rolling his shoulders. He’s already thrown his bag down by the front door, where Jared is still stood in the doorway, hesitant to venture inside until he feels a wave of heat from the fire. He steps over the threshold and shuts the door behind him to keep the heat in.

He removes his cape and hooks it over a chair the same way Connor did a moment ago. He’s not sure where to stand or _how_ to stand in such a closed environment. He’s never been in an occupied house before and he can’t help but take everything in around him. The place has too many plants by the windows – enough to block out a good amount of sunlight but the fire brightens the place up a little, shadows flickering in dark corners of the dwelling. There are a couple of hand-carved shelves with books and pots shoved haphazardly on to them, there doesn’t seem to be a particular system for shelving belongings – everything is just thrown on to any empty space available. It appears there are no other rooms to the property. The bed is backed into a corner, white sheets covered by a patchwork blanket and a small chest of drawers crammed in next to the bed. It seems very over-populated by furniture and… _things_ in general. He’s never seen such a crowded house. Of course, he’s only ever been in houses and shacks that have been long abandoned. He still knows what some of the furniture’s functions are – the drawers are for keeping clothes and the cupboards by the cooking stove are there conveniently to store spices and ingredients for meals. He’s proud of himself for knowing, although he’d caught sight of some sort of tub outside that had water left in it, perhaps it’s for washing something or for collecting rainwater to drink – he’s not entirely sure but he refuses to ask.

Connor uses a steel cooking pot to boil some of the water that he had been keeping in his canteen. Jared takes it upon himself to sift through some of the books lying about, raising his brow at some illustrations of herbs and plantation presented on their covers.

“Are you a healer?” Jared asks, gesturing to the leatherback book in his hands. Connor looks startled at the question, stirring the boiling water a couple of times before answering.

“Somewhat. I _study_ healing– that’s why the others bring me hunting, I’m not a very good shot so they wouldn’t force me along otherwise.” Jared nods in response. A bad shot would mean easy prey in any other situation. Jared has to survive after all, what else is he supposed to eat? Although, he’s not going to eat the creature that helped him. Knowing a healer could come in handy if he got injured nearby too.

Connor clears his throat as he holds a mug out to Jared. The tea inside is a deep shade of pink, unlike any beverage Jared as seen before. His eyes widen in wonder as he accepts the tea, watching Connor fix his own drink and take a sip, hissing quietly when he burns his mouth. Jared blinks, looking back at his own tea and pressing his lips to the mug to take a short sip. Boiling water doesn’t bother him, he’s never burnt himself on a hot drink before and the tea goes down smooth. There’s a bitter twang to it with an underlying sweetness that has Jared taking a few more frenzied gulps. It fills him with warmth. Something he’s been missing for the past couple of weeks travelling in the cold. He really hates winter, if it had been summer it wouldn’t have been an issue for him to travel at all. He sniffs his nose and glances to the books again in curiosity. Connor follows his gaze and picks up one of the books, holding it out to him in offering.

"Would you like to read some of them? They're very interesting."

Jared makes no move to take the book from his hands and after a moment, Connor sighs and sets the book down in it's original location. Jared stays quiet as he watches him carefully.

"You don't have to be so rude about it."

“I-I…can’t read.” He rubs at his arm, diverting his gaze a little bashfully. He’s a dragon, when on earth would he have learned? Connor blinks at him before a small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.

“I could teach you if you like.” He sips at his cup of tea and folds one leg over the other. It’s an open offer, entirely Jared’s decision. And before he can stop himself – he’s already nodding, eager to learn a useful skill such as this. He’s always wondered what it would be like to read in full and now he finally has the chance to learn. It’s only natural he jumps at the chance.

Jared comes and goes as he likes. He hikes down the mountain most days from the cave he’s been taking refuge in just to spend time learning with Connor. He has significant patience with Jared and he's strangely warm towards him. Reading isn't something that comes naturally to him. He could read sign posts for towns and cities but full-blown books prove to be a problem considering his lack of knowledge. After a couple of weeks he starts to pick things up rather quickly and soon, he’s simply coming to visit the human just for the pleasant company. Jared shares his travels of the world, all of the lands and creatures he’s seen and met along the way. Connor is always wide-eyed as he tells his tales, leaning closer as he listens intently to every word. It’s flattering that his experiences are seen as something to get excited about and when Connor asks about a story he’s already told – he simply tells it again in further detail.

Jared tries his best to keep his distance but even then he finds himself knocking on Connor’s door again and again. Most of the time he’s there and even when he’s not he makes it clear to Jared he can simply walk in if he so desires. There are a couple of times that Connor leaves him on his own inside, telling him he has a couple of errands to run but to make himself at home in the meantime. He’s never absent for long. And the one day he is it has Jared worried for him. Had something happened to him? He’d never left Jared for so long before and books don’t seem to pass the time he spends waiting. He takes to pacing the room, claws clasped behind his back to keep them from shaking with nerves.

He glances around the living room, a sparkling stone resting upon a bookshelf catching his eye. He had presented his sentimental stone collection to Connor, bringing a particular mesmerising rock to him as a present upon one of his many visits. He had explained his small habit of collecting stones small enough to carry on his person and that he gathers them when he travels to new lands, almost like a souvenir - which were Connor's words, not his. The human seemed to be amused by the gesture but the next time Jared visited, he saw the rock propped up proudly against some books. He smiles weakly at the memory. If anything, it makes him feel worse.

Why is he so worried anyway? He’s not sure why he’s asking himself that question when he already knows the answer. He cares for Connor. He supposes he’s the first person he could regard as his _friend_. Jared’s never been the most approachable but he thought he’d enjoyed being on his own. He _had_ but now that he has Connor - he wants to spend his time with him. It’s a strange feeling to have. To care about someone and their well-being. To want to spend time in their company.

Jared sighs and plops himself down, his tail flopping down limply. He frowns to himself, wondering if Connor cares enough to worry about him. Or if he would consider Jared his friend too. He grabs the book he was reading and sifts through the pages in an attempt to distract himself from such thoughts. A distressed whine passes by his lips and he takes to pacing with his nose still buried in the book. He’s too antsy to sit down or register any of the sentences he's reading over and over. He knows he’s behaving ridiculously but he can’t help it in the slightest. He feels as though his brain is flooding with thoughts of what could be wrong.

He's sat on the bed when he hears a knock at the door. He raises his brows. Usually, Connor just barges on in, it’s his home after all, why would he knock? While he's excited that he could be home, Jared narrows his eyes suspiciously at the door and sets down the herbology book he’s been leafing through. He gets to his feet as another heavier knock comes at the door. The curtains are drawn, no one can see in anyway but Jared can’t help but feel exposed. Panic rises in his chest briefly, he knows something is wrong. He walks cautiously to the window, drawing back the curtain just a sliver. The last thing Jared expects to see a group of humans stood, swords at the ready.

A couple of them clutch torches in their hands, casting menacing shadows on their faces. A growl rises from Jared. A mob? _Really_? He rolls his eyes. He can take them, he knows he can. He _wants_ to hurt them. He can’t help but wonder why they’re here – to kill him, obviously but how do they know he’s here? The realisation is enough to knock him back a couple of steps from the window. _Connor_. Connor must’ve told them. How else would they know? Jared’s eyebrows knit together, why would he tell the other humans? He thought they were getting along, that they were friends. Maybe he’s wrong. Maybe they hadn’t been friends at all. Jared’s been a fool. He did the one thing that he swore he wouldn’t and now he’s left himself in a less than ideal position. All because of his own lapse in judgement. What was he thinking, trusting a human?

He exhales sharply, a puff of smoke coming out with the breath. He doesn’t dillydally anymore, throwing on his cape and slinging his bag over his shoulder. He opens the back door. There are only two humans this way and as soon as they see him they start swinging their torches wildly at him. Jared snorts amusedly, tossing them to the side with ease so he can make his escape. They howl in distress as they’re thrown, weapons and torches falling from their grasps. Do they not know fire can't affect a fire-breathing dragon? If he so pleased, he could have stolen the flame from their torches and wielded it against them. He chooses not to, running instead. He no longer wants a part in any dealings with humans. He just wants out.

Jared has barely made it over the fence outlining the farm when a piercing pain wracks through his leg. He cries out and stumbles the rest of the way over the fence and away from his attacker. His eyes land on Connor, who stands with his blade firmly in his grasp. Jared feels his heart lurch. Seeing him makes the gravity of the situation sink in and suddenly, Jared is terrified. Not terrified of Connor or the other humans, but terrified at how _hurt_ he feels. How could he let himself get so attached so quickly? He’s practically given the humans permission to hurt him but he refuses to die like this. He looks down at his bloodied leg and gulps. He can’t run like this. He’ll have to fly. 

Connor hops the fence easily, hovering over Jared with a sorrowful expression. The other humans are nearing closer, stumbling over each other and yelling encouragements to Connor as they approach behind him. Connor spares a glance over his shoulder at them before resting his eyes back on Jared.

"Why? After all of these months, _why_?"

“I...I have to do this. They'll take everything I have otherwise.” He says quietly. Confusion floods his brain. So that's it. He'd been bullied into this. What a feeble excuse for murder. And why would he apologise? If he would feel remorse for killing Jared couldn’t he just let him go? Connor raises his weapon, bringing it down to strike him but just as he does so – Jared rolls out of the way of the sword and on to his feet.

Jared hisses as pain shoots up his leg but he pushes himself forward, feeling the prickle of scales breaking skin as his transformation begins. _Better now than never_ , if he doesn’t shift now he won’t make it out of here alive. It’s relatively quick, but it’s painful – it always is. It’s more of a dulled-pain now that he used to it but he used to be in agony during his shifts. Scales envelop his entire body, flesh and limbs tear and twist into new shapes. The sounds would be sickening to anyone who hadn’t heard them before. Not to Jared. It’s just something that comes along with who he is – _what_ he is. His scales are much more hardy in his dragon form and now he's big enough to crush these idiot humans. He growls and stomps a claw on the ground, shaking the mob enough to stop them in their tracks. Jared smirks toothily. _Cowards_. He snags his bag in one of his claws and beats his wings.

The force of his wings flapping is enough to hold the humans on the ground and as he ascends - he can't help but huff out a fiery breath. He's more than furious with Connor. He _hates_ him. He hates humans. He must have some kind of repercussion for his actions - for tricking Jared into trusting him and for hurting him _more_ than just physically. The windmill is the first thing the fire catches, orange flames climbing like ivy mercilessly up the side of the wooden extension to Connor's house. Connor's yells of despair are lost amongst the enraged shrieks from the rest of the villagers, trying their hardest to throw anything they can in Jared's general direction without much luck. He roars in anguish and anger as he brings down a mighty claw and crushes a handful of the hunters. If there's blood on him, it's not noticeable against his red scales. He snarls once more at the remaining alive humans as he rises higher into the midnight sky above.

It takes a while for him to calm down even slightly - he just can’t wrap his head around it. He thought Connor was trustworthy. He thought he was his _friend_. That’s obviously not the case. This simply proved his point all along. Humans really _can’t_ be trusted. He knew that already but he didn’t want to believe it, he still doesn’t. Perhaps he’s jumping to conclusions. Would Connor really rat him out? Jared shakes his head. _Don’t be stupid_ , he thinks. How else would they have known that he was there? They wouldn’t have known otherwise. He’s only trying to make excuses for someone he trusted.

He frowns and beats his wings a few more times, soaring further away from Connor’s farm. He doesn’t dare look back, for fear of hurting more. The pain in his chest doesn't seem to be fading at all and he can't help but wonder why. Why did this have to happen? Has he done something to deserve this treatment? Perhaps it's simply down to his species. Dragons and humans just don't mix well. And this will be the last time he befriends a human.

**Author's Note:**

> After months of not posting anything - I give you the first of three (but more than likely four) backstories for the Dragon AU boys. Between juggling work and other things it's taken me longer than I would've liked to finish these but now that I have, I can finally get to work on the Dragon AU Sequel that Seb and I have been trying to push forward. 
> 
> Like I said, it took way too long to get all of this down on paper but I'm happy with how it's turned out for the most part and I hope you guys enjoy these short stories exploring the past. Expect more to be coming within the next couple weeks since I'll be off during the holiday period!
> 
> Please go check out my boy Seb, who draws all of the lovely art for the AU: https://neglected-sadist.tumblr.com/
> 
> And if you want my blog is here: https://cheesebeanmilk.tumblr.com/


End file.
